Shinobu Wakamiya
Shinobu Wakamiya is the current Karuta Queen, she is also the youngest Queen in history. Appearance Her first appearance was that in her uniform upon meeting Chihaya at Omi Jingu. Later, she has been described as someone who is cute but having the fashion sense of a rock in episode 14. She appeared with her shirt tucked-in with the design of "Snowmaru" which no other character than Chihaya seems to know of. Personality It appeared when she was playing with Chihaya Ayase that she often feels as if her opponents were vigorous and active at first but on the verge of losing, it would feel as if she was back to playing karuta alone again. Shinobu was said to win karuta with her signature smile. However, during her game with Chihaya she showed a furious character and stating that next time she would not let Chihaya take a card from her again. Relationships Chihaya Ayase It would seem that at first Chihaya was just any other opponent that Shinobu has fought. First looking so pumped to play against the Queen only to be overwhelmed and give up in the middle, however that was not the case for Chihaya. Chihaya piqued the Queen's curiosity by getting back into the game. They only have fought against each other once and have things in common. For instance, Shinobu was able to recognize the "Daddy Bear" logo on Chihaya's shirt and had an accidental outburst about it. Chihaya then notices Shinobu's "Snowmaru" shirt as both are momentarily distracted by each others shirts. It is unknown whether or not Shinobu likes Chihaya as friend or perhaps just wants to still beat her in another tournament. Akito Sudo Little is known on how exactly they met, but they do seem to recognize each other and probably had more than one conversation. Sudo dislikes the fact she is Queen because she reportedly "shoved it in his face" Arata Wataya Arata and Shinobu know each other very well. Shinobu has never beaten Arata. Arata is the reason that Shinobu never won a school level competition while in grade school, despite being in class A since the 4th grade. Shinobu only started winning school level competitions after Arata stopped playing Karuta. After Arata returned to Karuta, they met in the Class A finals for the high school Karuta competition. During the match Arata used his knowledge of Shinobu's personality to exert psychological pressure on Shinobu. Ultimately maintaining his winning streak against her by winning the finals of the Class A competition, thus handing the Queen her first loss in a very long time. Generally, Shinobu and Arata seem to know each other very well, with Shinobu able to convince Arata to not drop out of the individual competitions following an incident during the team competitions. Shinobu also attended the group level finals to watch Chihaya and her team compete in Arata's place when Arata was prevented from doing so by the competition organizers as punishment. Arata also did not hesitate to publicly touch Shinobu to check her temperature following their finals match. History When she and her mother moved to her Grandma's house she found the box of karuta cards and fell in love with them. Shinobu became a Class A karuta player when she was in fourth grade. She reveals that the last time she lost was to Arata Wataya four years earlier than the current timeline. It seems he made a habit of defeating her in tournaments in the first round.Episode 34, Shinobu and Arata encounter each other and talk. Synopsis Trivia * The name "Shinobu" in Japanese literally means "endurance". * Shinobu is left handed. Chihaya was so engrossed in her first match with the Queen that she didn't even realize this. References Category:Female Category:Characters Category:Karuta Player Category:Featured Articles Category:Queen